1679 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

This venue at the south end of the Downtown waterfront is one of the few places in St. Petersburg to see big-ticket national acts as well as the Florida Orchestra, which plays here quite often.

The Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts has several different performance spaces. The 2,354-seat Memorial Auditorium, the crown jewel of the complex, is home to the North Carolina Theatre and the nationally acclaimed Carolina Ballet. The 1,587-seat Meymandi Concert Hall hosts the North Carolina Symphony. The 600-seat Fletcher Opera Theater provides a showcase for the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute, while the 150-seat Kennedy Theatre stages shows by smaller theater groups.

A fixture in Georgetown since 1772 (in its current location since 1850), Dumbarton United Methodist Church sponsors a concert series that has featured the Harlem Quartet, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks, the St. Petersburg String Quartet, plus a multigenerational community of emerging artists. It's also home to Inner City-Inner Child, Inc. Founded in 1979 as a chamber music concert series, Dumbarton Concerts/Inner City-Inner Child, Inc. is a music, arts, and education organization that is doing extraordinary work in Washington, D.C. Mission: Dumbarton Concerts/Inner City-Inner Child presents programs that promote diversity, community, accessibility, and a love of music and learning throughout greater Washington, D.C. The Dumbarton Concerts music series showcases established and emerging artists for multigenerational and international audiences and creates a community for patrons and music lovers. Inner City-Inner Child improves academic achievement, and uplifts and inspires children ages 0 to 5 in D.C.’s most economically disadvantaged communities using the transformative power of the arts.

Before or after a performance, stroll through the nearby Dumbarton Oaks estate and park.

You can see stage productions as well as visual arts exhibits, concerts, and films at the Durango Arts Center.

At this 330-seat theater, it's all about dinner and a show. Onstage, the theater's professionally trained company performs a mix of updated classic musicals such as Guys and Dolls and Annie Get Your Gun. More contemporary productions such as Legally Blonde and Sister Act, plus regular children's productions round out the bill. With the exception of a seated, full-service dinner on Thursday, the theater offers a hearty buffet with the shows.

Plays at this Little Tokyo theater focus on the Asian American experience and feature an Asian American cast. Its Theatre for Youth Program is a traveling production that promotes racial tolerance and understanding among students. It is also home to the David Henry Hwang Writers Institute.

Three fun parades hit the streets of the French Quarter on Easter Sunday: a morning parade dedicated to the late socialite Germaine Wells that begins and ends at Antoine's Restaurant with a stop for Mass at St. Louis Cathedral; an afternoon parade led by local entertainer Chris Owens; and the finale, an incredible gay parade that takes the festive bonnet tradition to a whole new level.

The Eastern Music Festival, a classical music celebration whose guests have included Billy Joel, André Watts, and Wynton Marsalis, brings a month of more than four dozen concerts to Greensboro's Guilford College and music venues throughout the city. It starts in late June.

The Eastman School of Music hosts frequent visiting and student performers—mostly classical—throughout the school year.

Eastside Bowl is your one-stop shop for music, activities and good eats on the east side. Stop in for a round of bowling and the popular shepherd's pie, or check out the calendar and grab tickets to see local and national touring acts. There's also an arcade on-site, making Eastside Bowl a great spot for fun for all ages.

Dance, theater, wide-ranging concerts, family shows, and other performances are on the bill in a state-of-the-art auditorium that also holds the biggest premieres during the Sundance Film Festival.

Film, music, theater, and more explore the Jewish experience. On offer here are documentary screenings, live music and theater, and family events around the Jewish holidays. You can also sign up for classes about language and faith as well as topics of interest to theater lovers.

Built by Sid Grauman in 1922, who also constructed the TCL Chinese Theatre, this Hollywood Boulevard movie house is famed not only for its Egyptian theme, complete with hieroglyphs and carvings, but also for being the venue of Hollywood’s first-ever movie premiere. A 100th anniversary renovation by streaming giant Netflix brought back numerous original architectural flourishes such as the theater's ornate, hand-carved, gilt ceiling, brilliant neon sign, and decorative Sphinx sculptures. The re-do updated projection tech too. Currently, the Egyptian hosts Netflix’s movie output along with the American Cinematheque’s classic film screenings. It is one of five theaters in the U.S. which can still project pre-1952 vintage nitrate film prints.

This historical building has been a Park City theater since its mining days in the 1880s. In 1922, the Egyptian Theatre was constructed on the site of the original Dewey Theatre that collapsed under record-breaking snow. Patrons enjoy an eclectic array of local and regional music, theater, and comedy in the 266-seat space.

Several organizations produce flamenco concerts around town, including the prestigious Entreflamenco Company, which offers dinner-and-a-show at El Flamenco just a few blocks from the Plaza.

This gorgeous beaux arts theater and historic landmark was built with opera performances in mind, so it's fitting that Boston Lyric Opera uses it for some performances today. You'll also see smaller traveling productions. It's owned by Emerson College, which uses the stage for ArtsEmerson, its presenting arm that focuses on contemporary theater from around the globe.

Look for the orange-, red-, and yellow-lit marquee on Washington Street, and you'll find the Paramount. Three performance spaces make up this 1930s-era complex owned by Emerson College. Its main stage features an art deco vibe and performing artists from all over. Smaller, alternative productions—think classic and art films, professional puppet shows, circus arts—can also take place in a black box theater or a screening room. ArtsEmerson schedules all events.

Along the banks of Lady Bird Lake, this cultural arts center is a celebration of latino heritage that blends a variety of theater, music, dance, literature, and culinary traditions into workshops, live performances, and educational classes to help foster a cultural foundation throughout Austin. On the last Tuesday of every month, there is a free screening of films from the Golden Era of Mexico's cinema in its main auditorium. The building houses two art galleries with free admission (closed Sunday).

On its idyllic campus surrounded by picturesque houses, Emory University has five major venues where internationally renowned artists perform.

For three days every August, tens of thousands of farmers and hobby agriculturalists gather in a field filled with vendors promoting everything from giant tractors to alpaca fur. Food booths, operated by community not-for-profit groups, sell sausage sandwiches, ice cream, and other fare.

Though balanced on a platform that reaches six stories underground, the futuristic Empire State Performing Arts Center, known as the Egg, appears to float above the plaza like a UFO. Shows here include acts by big-name artists, touring pop and folk musicians, comedy routines, and modern dance performances.

Wynn's 1,480-seat \"regular\" theater—next door to the circular one that hosts Awakening—has quite a history, having hosted everything from Broadway musicals to Garth Brooks's first solo-acoustic residency. Of late it's been the home base for comedians, such as Nate Bargatze, musicians including John Fogerty and Lionel Richie, even daredevil magician David Blaine. Most of the seats are on the floor, but there's a 12-row mezzanine.

The largest professional African-American theater company in the Southwest stages gripping performances on its own stage in Midtown.

The company stages classic and contemporary comedies, musicals, and dramas.

The annual, multiday Evergreen Jazz Fest in July features musicians from around the country, such as New York's popular The Brain Cloud. Ticket prices vary; concerts are offered in four venues around town.

A professional theater company with a wide range, Everyman Theatre's performances could be Baltimore premieres or skillful interpretations of age-old classics.

Film buffs shouldn't leave Lincoln Park without visiting this long-running nonprofit movie theater, which presents an eclectic selection of films from around the world. Facets also hosts the Academy Award-qualifying Chicago International Children's Film Festival: the massive (think upward of 250 screenings) event showcases the best in culturally diverse, value-affirming new cinema for kids and offers young viewers opportunities to chat with filmmakers.